1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document storage apparatus of a document reading system, and more particularly to a document storage apparatus of a document reading system for providing a stored electronic document for a user to meet a requirement to read the electronic document from a document reading apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a system for reading a simple document in a network environment has been used widely. For example, information reading environment called "Internet" and "Worldwide Web (WWW)", which have been talked about recently, can be available. The reading systems above employ a method of communicating the data format, called "Hyper Text Markup-Language (HTML)" by a protocol called "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)" between the "WWW server" and the "WWW browser".
The above-mentioned system has been used generally as a system in which data of character information and image information in predetermined format is interchanged in a simple format described in a markup language in card (one sheet having no concept of pages) units so as to be read. The technique about Internet is described in ISBN4-900718-12-2 "Internet User's Guide".
There arises a requirement to construct, on the infrastructure above, a system for communicating electronic documents which read the same in and out of the company of users.
However, when the above-mentioned network environment is used to construct the document reading system, a satisfactory system has not been realized. Because a document is formatted in accordance with a simple grammar based on the text, the types of documents which can be shown are limited. Since documents are created with a specific grammar, documents cannot be created as they are by a word processor, and thus a peculiar technique for creating documents is required. Moreover, a word processor having a function capable of converting a document into HTML format or outputting a document in HTML format must be used.
On the other hand, a document interchanging method is available in which a document is acquired by using a file transfer protocol to convert the document into a data file of a word processor document. This method is insufficient, however, to construct a satisfactory system. Because word processor data of all pages is required, the contents of the document cannot be read even if the leading end page is required to be read. If a document having many pages is read, it takes an excessively long time to transfer the document. Furthermore, the user must have application software, such as word processor software, to read various word processor data. Therefore, all of the users who require the document cannot have all of application software required to read the document.
Although a method may be employed in which the server side converts the document into a document format required by the user and transmits the converted document, perfect compatibility in converting word processor data cannot be realized and therefore conversion is limited. Thus, the converted document inevitably different than the original document. Moreover, a multiple word processor data formats and frequent limit the utility of the foregoing method of document format conversion. For example, only formats of representative application software can be converted.
On the other hand, an image filing apparatus can be available as a local apparatus for interchanging a document through a network. A variety of contrivances have been performed to display a raster image in the image filing apparatus. However, the contrivance for the image filing system for scan images, which are formed in a data format in page units, cannot be applied to document data of general application software consisting of a plurality of pages and having no format compatibility. Furthermore, another contrivance is required to construct a remote reading apparatus arranged to be operated through a network individually from the contrivance for the image filing system established on the basis of local filing.
Moreover, when read data is required to be printed, a multi-page document cannot be printed with a high quality, such that various graphics and spreadsheets are used as desired and a satisfactory shape is realized, if the read document involves a limitation in power of expression. If a document having a high quality is required, a word processor document, which takes a long time to read, must be used.